Milwaukee Statistics

The city of Milwaukee is in need of the hope of Christ. Milwaukee has been noted as one of the most segregated cities in America, where poverty, drugs, and violence are escalating at an alarming rate. Below are some statistics about our city:

Milwaukee is the 5th poorest city in the US.

Sanburn, Josh. "This is the Poorest Big City in the U.S." TIME Magazine 17 Sept. 2015; based on US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2014 data

29.4% of people in Milwaukee live in poverty. 43.3% of children in Milwaukee live in poverty.

United States Census Bureau / American FactFinder. "S1701 Poverty Status in the Past 12 Months" 2009 – 2014 American Community Survey. U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey Office, 2014. Web. 7 March 2016

Milwaukee has the greatest segregation of the poor from everyone else than any other metro region.

79.7% of children in Milwaukee Public Schools qualify for free or reduced lunches.

"Milwaukee Public Schools Annual Summary." Milwaukee Public Schools.

Wisconsin has the highest incarceration rate for African American men in the nation, with 12.8% (or 1 in 8) of black men in state prison and local, nearly double the national average of 6.7%. Half of African American men in their 30s in Milwaukee County have been in state prison.

The unemployment rate for black males (ages 25-54) in Milwaukee is 52.7%.

Levine, Marc V. Race and Male Employment in the Wake of the Great Recession. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. Center for Economic Development, Jan. 2012.

During a nationwide FBI-coordinated investigation of human trafficking last summer (2013), 10 children were rescued in Wisconsin and 100 suspected traffickers were arrested in a single day — numbers that were among the highest of all the cities participating in the probe.

A study conducted by the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission between the years 2010-2012 showed that 77 youth (ages 12-17 years) in Milwaukee were sex trafficked. Note that this only includes the youth that had contact with the Milwaukee Police Department during the time of the study.

Estimating the Number of Sex Trafficked Youth Using Contacts with the Milwaukee Police Department. City of Milwaukee. Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission in Consultation with Rethink Resources, 15 Apr. 2013.